The perfect match

Courtesy Photo

By AIRMAN 1ST CLASS NAOMI GRIEGO / 1st SOW Public Affairs

Published: Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 03:40 PM.

Staff Sgt. Nicole Dunnam, unit deployment manager of 1st Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, is no ordinary Airman. In fact, much like a superhero, she saved a life - only she did it with her bone marrow.
This summer, Dunnam donated bone marrow to save a man’s life. She received a phone call from a woman working at the C.W. Bill Young Department of Defense Marrow Donor Program informing her she had been selected as a match. Dunnam’s DNA so closely matched a male recipient suffering from myelodysplastic syndrome that the doctor said it was as if the recipient had won the lottery.
“It was a very humbling experience,” Dunnam said.
Dunnam recalls how her bone marrow opportunity came about.
“Back when I was an airman first class, I was approached by someone at a medical group kiosk and asked to register as a bone marrow donor,” said Dunnam.
It didn’t take much to persuade Dunnam to register. Little did she know four years later that piece of paper she filled out and a DNA swab would lead to a life altering experience.
“I was surprised when I got the call,” Dunnam said. “It’s a one-in-eight million chance to be a match.”
The overall process took months to coordinate. The doctors had to ensure that both Dunnam and the recipient were in good health to ensure the success of the bone marrow transplant. Ultimately it took six days to extract the desired amount of bone marrow from Dunnam. This entailed five days of injections in each arm and one day of actual extraction.
Dunnam returned to work at Hurlburt Field just one day after undergoing the bone marrow extraction procedure.
Dunnam helped save a life even at the expense of some discomfort said Dunnam.
“The procedure was painful but I would do it again,” said Dunnam “It’s for a really good cause.”

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Staff Sgt. Nicole Dunnam, unit deployment manager of 1st Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, is no ordinary Airman. In fact, much like a superhero, she saved a life - only she did it with her bone marrow.
This summer, Dunnam donated bone marrow to save a man’s life. She received a phone call from a woman working at the C.W. Bill Young Department of Defense Marrow Donor Program informing her she had been selected as a match. Dunnam’s DNA so closely matched a male recipient suffering from myelodysplastic syndrome that the doctor said it was as if the recipient had won the lottery.
“It was a very humbling experience,” Dunnam said.
Dunnam recalls how her bone marrow opportunity came about.
“Back when I was an airman first class, I was approached by someone at a medical group kiosk and asked to register as a bone marrow donor,” said Dunnam.
It didn’t take much to persuade Dunnam to register. Little did she know four years later that piece of paper she filled out and a DNA swab would lead to a life altering experience.
“I was surprised when I got the call,” Dunnam said. “It’s a one-in-eight million chance to be a match.”
The overall process took months to coordinate. The doctors had to ensure that both Dunnam and the recipient were in good health to ensure the success of the bone marrow transplant. Ultimately it took six days to extract the desired amount of bone marrow from Dunnam. This entailed five days of injections in each arm and one day of actual extraction.
Dunnam returned to work at Hurlburt Field just one day after undergoing the bone marrow extraction procedure.
Dunnam helped save a life even at the expense of some discomfort said Dunnam.
“The procedure was painful but I would do it again,” said Dunnam “It’s for a really good cause.”